Pretend
by gryffindorwriter
Summary: Jay Halstead has always cared deeply about the people in his life that mean something to him, and Hailey Upton snuck up on him in becoming one of those people. But the more time he spends with her, the more time he sees her with Adam and the more he thinks that it's not just friendship between them, the more Jay realises he can't pretend any longer.
1. Chapter 1 - Talk to Me

**A/N**: This is my first time writing for Jay and Hailey, but I really love the two of them. I'm kind of torn between fully shipping them or fully shipping Upzek, because I think they both have such great potential and I adore both couples, but this idea came to mind after watching 614 and I couldn't help but write it! I'm aiming for about 15-20 chapters, but we'll see how that goes. It's mainly an Upstead story, but there'll be some side Upzek thrown in every now and then until the Upstead fully happens. I hope that if you read this, you enjoy it as much as I'm enjoying writing it and thank you for reading!

* * *

For the entire day, Jay was pretty sure he'd had one eye on his work and one eye on Hailey. After everything that happened he couldn't really blame himself – after all, Hailey's life had been in danger and she'd been injured, it was only second nature for him to be worried about her.

But he knew she was in good hands. She had Adam, after all. Adam had found her, Adam had been checking in on her whenever he thought she needed it and even though she'd been given the all clear by the doctor, it was clear that Adam was worried about her, too. Jay was well aware that the two of them were closer now, that there was something _proper _between the two of them, and all he cared about were his friends happiness.

The sun hadn't even started to set when Hailey, sitting at the desk in front of his, reached forward to power down her computer. Furrowing his eyebrows, Jay peeked around his own computer to look at her.

"You okay?"

Hailey gave him a tight-lipped smile and nodded as she picked up her phone from her desk. "Yeah, all good," she assured him. "Painkillers are just wearing off so I think it's time to call it a day, y'know?"

She stood up and tucked her phone into the pocket of her jeans before grabbing the coat off the back of her chair and shrugging it on. She'd been given the all-clear to go back to work for two days now and she'd been there for both of them, though it was clear to everyone on the team that she wasn't at a hundred percent again just yet. She _had _gone through something pretty traumatic, including being beaten badly, and everyone understood that it'd take time for her. Kim understood more than anyone.

"You need a ride home or something?" Jay continued.

Hailey shook her head. "No, I'm fine to drive. Thank you for offering, though," she gave him another smile and grabbed her bag. "I'm just gonna pop in to see Voight, be back in a second."

Jay nodded to himself as Hailey disappeared into Voight's office for a second, closing the door behind her so that nobody else could hear what they were talking about. It wasn't a confidential conversation, though. Hailey knew that Voight was still worried about her and Kim, though– but mostly her. He'd known Kim longer, knew that Kim had gone through traumatic stuff before and come out on the good side of it. But he also knew that for Hailey, sometimes thing hit a little hard. He'd made it clear to both her _and _Jay before that he worried about her, and Jay had often made it clear to Voight that he felt the same way.

A few minutes later, Hailey emerged from Voight's office and wandered back over to her desk to grab a file before heading out. "I'm heading off, guys," she spoke to everyone. "I'll see you all tomorrow."

Antonio, Kim and Kevin all said their goodbyes and Jay didn't miss the way Hailey rested a hand on Adam's shoulder and gave it a squeeze before she went to leave. Jay stood up from his chair, acting on instinct.

"I'll walk you out."

It wasn't a question. He was just doing it. Besides, he hadn't found himself with much time to even talk to Hailey lately, with everything that had been going on, and he had things bubbling up inside of him that he wanted to say to her. That he _needed _to say to her.

After waving a quick goodbye to Trudy at the desk, Hailey and Jay wandered down the steps and out of the building towards her car. It was chilly outside, the Chicago winter air definitely not relenting, and even though Hailey was wearing one of her thickest coats, she still felt the cold. It'd been cold in that cabin, too. Chained to a pole, sitting on the cold concrete ground... she shook her head.

"You didn't have to walk me out, you know," Hailey muttered, pulling her key out of her bag as they got closer to her car. "I did get the all-clear."

Jay gave her a look. "Yeah, that's not why I'm walking you out."

"What is it, then?" She hummed. "Something about the case?"

He shook his head. "We just haven't had much of a chance to talk lately. I'm wondering how you're doing after... all of it." He breached the subject softly, not wanting to push if she wasn't willing to talk. "I know it's taking Kim a bit to stop thinking about it. How are _you_?"

Hailey furrowed her eyebrows as they stopped at her car. "I'm good, Jay. Like I said... to you, _and _to Voight _and _to Adam."

"Hailey," Jay sighed. "You can talk to me. You can always talk to me."

She glanced around and took a deep breath. She trusted Jay. She trusted Jay more than she trusted anyone she knew, and she knew from experience that talking to people about things that bothered you usually helped in one way or another, but she was still reluctant. After all, it seemed a little silly for her to be bothered by something so small– she and Kim had been abducted, trapped in a cabin for only a few hours, beaten and then _saved. _It was nothing particularly nightmare-worthy.

Yet she'd still woken up both nights since.

"Not here," she shook her head.

"Not here?"

"No, not here... when you finish up, and _don't _rush, come by mine, okay?" She suggested. "And then we can... talk. Because it's freezing here and my place has heating."

Jay's lips twitched up into a small smirk and he nodded. "All right," he agreed. "You sure you don't have plans with Adam?" He remembered the time Adam had shown up at hers while he was there.

She shook her head. "No. I've asked him to give me space for a few days, and he gets that," she explained.

He nodded and stepped back so she could unlock her car and open up the door, resisting the urge to ask her how things with Adam were going– not here. "I'll text you when I finish, then. And I'll bring food. Don't cook."

"Not cooking sounds good to me," she flashed him a small smile as she climbed up into her car, glad he hadn't asked more questions. "See you in a few hours."

Jay watched from the steps of the district as Hailey drove away and only when she was out of sight did he return upstairs to the rest of the team. Adam's eyes were on him as soon as he entered.

"Hey– is Hailey all right?" He asked, leaning back in his chair.

Jay nodded. "She's good, man."

He returned to his desk and sat down, only slightly curious as to _why _he'd felt some sort of stab of irritation in his gut at Adam's words, as he clicked back onto the file he'd been reading before and tried to finish his work sooner rather than later.


	2. Chapter 2 - Bump In The Road

**A/N**: Wow. Thank you _so _much for such a lovely response to this first chapter – I absolutely wasn't expecting it, but I really appreciate it. It's definitely pushed me to write this second chapter and post it sooner than I'd planned, so I hope you enjoy it just as much. Thank you very much for reading, reviewing, favouriting and following!

* * *

"I got your favourite," Jay hummed, pulling some of the take out from the bag and sitting it on the bench. "Figured a bit of comfort food might help."

Hailey raised her eyebrows at him and took a sip of the tequila she'd served herself up only moments before he arrived. It'd been a few hours since their talk at the district and Jay had done exactly what Hailey had said – not rushed through his work in order to get to their conversation faster. The sun had been set for a good half an hour by the time Jay finished up, and after getting the food and actually getting _out _of the district, it'd been later than he'd intended, but Hailey was still wide awake when he'd arrived, as expected.

It'd been a while since they'd had a good talk like this, just the two of them in Hailey's home. They'd had drinks together at various Chicago bars over the past few weeks, but there was nothing that beat the privacy of ones home for good conversation, and Jay instantly knew that Hailey deciding to invite Jay into her home to talk was a good thing – it meant she actually _wanted _to talk.

"How do you even know what my favourite is? I've never told you."

"Yeah, but we've eaten together enough times for me to just catch on to the one you order and eat all the time," Jay shrugged, chucking the empty paper bag in the trash. "I notice these things."

Hailey nodded slowly at him as she grabbed the food he'd gotten for her and popped open the lid. Jay was right – comfort food _was _a help. That _and _the tequila _and _Jay's company? She was in good hands.

"So," Jay started, sitting down on one of the stools and opening up his own dinner. "This is one of those things you talked to me about a while back. One of those things that we do. Where you don't want me here, but I stay anyway and you talk so you can go to work tomorrow."

"Is it now?" She raised an eyebrow at him before starting to eat.

Jay nodded. "Yeah, it is. So... let's talk," he suggested. "I know you don't wanna hear this, but we _are _all worried about you. I'm worried, and I know that Kim's worried, too, even though she's not saying anything. Antonio, Kevin, Voight. Hell, Adam's worried most of all."

Hailey frowned and moved her food around with her fork for a few moments as she pondered over a reply. "It's nothing, Jay. It's nothing– really, I've been through worse. Being abducted, beaten... I've nearly died before, and this wasn't it. This was just... a bump in the road, y'know?"

Jay decided against speaking and figured he'd just let her do all the talking until it felt right to jump in. She was the one that needed to get all of this off her chest and Jay was going to be the one to listen when she so obviously needed it. Even though she was acting like it wasn't a big deal, Jay could tell that she was trying to convince herself of it as she spoke about it. She _had _been through worse, he knew that, and he hated the fact, too, but even the smallest things still hurt.

"I wasn't even worried about myself," she muttered, still playing with her food. "I was worried about Kim– I told her to go or we'd both die, and she just... _didn't. _And when he came back into the room and saw she was gone, he could have killed me so easily... but all that mattered was that Kim was safe. That she was out there, lighting that fire. My life didn't even flash before my eyes..."

Internally, Jay winced. He hated hearing Hailey talk about her life like it meant so little to her when it meant so much to him. His eyebrows were furrowed on his forehead, and the food in front of him was pretty much forgotten as he listened to her speak. He wasn't going to ruin the mood by shovelling food into his mouth when Hailey was getting everything off of her chest.

"When I had him, when I had my chains around his neck... I could have killed him. I could have so easily killed him– I _wanted _to kill him for everything he'd done..." Her voice shook a little as she spoke. "If Adam wasn't there, with Antonio, I think I might have."

Unintentionally, Jay found himself reaching out a hand to rest on top of hers.

"Hey. You didn't. They got there, they stopped you. You didn't."

Hailey met his eyes. "But I wanted to."

"But you _didn't, _Hailey. Wanting and doing are two different things."

Squeezing her eyes shut for a moment, Hailey picked up her glass of tequila and drained the rest of it. She hadn't intended on putting _everything, _or nearly everything, out there in the open, but she had. She trusted Jay more than she trusted anyone, even Adam, and for some reason she felt so comfortable around him that she could just speak and speak and know she was being heard. Not everyone was like that, and she appreciated that Jay was.

She didn't need to tell him about waking up in the middle of the night, feeling like her hands were still weighed down with those chains, like she couldn't move. She'd had dreams like that before. They would pass, in time, and Jay didn't need to be weighed down by them, too.

"You were right about the food helping," she murmured, voice quiet.

Jay smiled a little, lips quirking up to one side. "I'm always right."

"Not always, but I'll give you sometimes."

"Oh, just sometimes?"

"Mmhmm," she smiled up at him and had another mouthful of food.

It didn't bother Jay that Hailey had changed the subject onto the food– he wasn't going to push her. He was never going to push her with these things, especially because he knew she already trusted him enough to share these things with him. If she wanted to talk more, he knew she would feel safe enough to. He wasn't going to be the kind of friend that would push her until she spilled everything. She'd told him before that she'd asked Adam to give her some space, so Jay figured he'd do that, too– but just with the talking.

They sat in silence for a few more minutes, both of them making their way through the takeout and drinking tequila– though Jay decided against the drink, not wanting to have to leave his car at her place overnight. Hailey was almost finished her meal when she spoke again.

"Thank you," she glanced over at him. "For coming over. For... being here."

Jay smiled. "Any time, Hailey. Any time."

"I don't think I realised how much I wanted the company until I got it."

"It's our thing," he shrugged. "You don't want me here, I stay anyway. I don't want you around, you stay anyway. We make it work. We talk it out. Then we go to work tomorrow and we do our jobs better. We work better as a team."

Hailey let out a breathy laugh and nodded. "Yeah, sounds about right."

Jay smiled. "I mean it though, Hailey – any time you need me. I'll be here. Any time."

"Same goes for you."

* * *

The following morning, before most of the team had even gotten in, Hailey stood in the kitchen of the bullpen stirring a coffee when she felt arms wrap around her from behind. She smiled instantly at the feeling of Adam pressing a kiss to the back of her head.

"How you feelin'?" He asked, twirling around to lean on the cabinets next to her. "Get a good night sleep and all that?"

Hailey chuckled. "Yeah, I'm good. Slept as well as can be expected," she mused. She'd ended up having a later night than planned, staying up and talking with Jay for a while, and surprisingly the nightmares hadn't been as bad afterwards– they were probably fading like she'd thought. "How about you, though? You seem chirpy this morning."

Adam shrugged. "I don't know, just got a good feelin' about today, y'know? Good day for this case, good day for this team." He stepped closer to her. "Good day for us."

"A good day for us, huh?"

Adam nodded, a cheeky smile making its way onto his face. "Yeah, good day for us. I've just got a good feeling," he grinned down at her. "Before I forget– I was thinking last night, if you ever wanna talk to me about what happened... you can, you know? You just let me know."

Jay's face and their previous conversation flashed through Hailey's mind and she shook her head. "I appreciate that, I do. But I'm good," she assured him. "No talking necessary."

"You sure?" Adam raised an eyebrow. "Talking usually helps."

Hailey nodded. "I'm sure. This was just a bump in the road. Nothing I can't move on from," she explained. She'd told Adam things before, things she'd never really shared with anyone before, and while she trusted him, for some reason she just wanted to keep this between her and Jay– the conversation, her thoughts, everything. It just felt right. She cleared her throat. "Now, you said today's gonna be a good day... so let's go make it one and get started early, yeah?"

Adam grinned and quickly pecked her lips. "Hell yeah."


	3. Chapter 3 - We're Good

**A/N**: Thank you for the lovely response to Chapter 2, I'm glad you guys are enjoying this story. I made this one a little longer than the first two because I don't think I'll be able to update again until Tuesday my time (I will try to update sooner, but we'll see). I'm really happy with this one so I hope you enjoy it! Thank you for reading.

* * *

"I've got eyes on him," Adam muttered before taking a sip of his drink. There was a camera on his chest, though it was obviously hidden, like his microphone was. "I think he's just got here. I'll wait a few minutes before approaching."

Hailey, from her spot in the van outside the club, looked at the vision coming in from his camera and spotted their target – the drug dealer they'd been chasing for a few weeks that Adam and Kim were now undercover to try and take down.

It had, originally, been part of the plan for Hailey to go undercover with Adam to get the guy, but after the abduction and after the beating Hailey had gotten, her going in there was out of the question. She was still healing and it was impossible for make-up to cover any of the cuts and bruises on her face and much easier for Kim to cover up the bruising on her neck instead.

Where Kim had taken her spot with Adam inside, Hailey had taken Kim's, opting to stay in the van with Jay out in the parking lot across from the club. It was, at least, warm inside the van and the chilly Chicago winter air was practically non-existent – she was glad that she was warm inside the van rather than cold going undercover in a dress, anyway. That was a perk of the switch.

Jay sat beside her, watching the cameras as Adam and Kim moved slowly around the club, not as oblivious to the thoughts running through Hailey's mind as she thought he was.

Part of her wished she was the one inside. That the damn guy that had abducted and beaten her _hadn't _done such a good job with it. That she'd not provoked him and just waited longer. Jay could see that in her eyes.

He tried not to take it personally, the fact that at least some part of her wanted to be inside with Adam rather than out here in the van with him– after all, Adam _was, _for lack of a better word, Hailey's boyfriend. It was only natural for her to want to be with him. Yet, for some reason, the feeling made Jay a little uncomfortable. The feeling of Hailey picking Adam over him, even though Adam was one of his closest friends and Hailey probably his best friend. Still, he supposed, she was here with him even if she didn't fully want to be.

He grabbed a bottle of water from the table in front of him and took a swig of it to take his mind off of everything as he watched Kim and Adam ascending the stairs inside the club on the monitor.

"I would have thought you'd be a little more annoyed about the fact that you couldn't be in there tonight," Jay mused, flicking his eyes over to Hailey for a moment before returning them to the screen. He was glad that Adam and Kim weren't wearing earpieces. It meant he could just talk freely to Hailey while they were alone.

Hailey shook her head. "No, I'm good. It's probably good for me to ease back into it and all. Going undercover a few days after? Yeah, not such a good idea." She turned to look at Jay and pointed at her face. "And this would have caused unnecessary questions."

Jay shrugged a shoulder. "Yeah, it's for the best," he took another swig of the water. "How are you doing? Since our talk. Any... developments?"

"Developments?" Hailey chuckled a little. "I'm better. I'm good. It's always a bit of a freaky thing to go through, but I'm okay. Promise." Her eyes stayed glued to the screen as she spoke, and she was too preoccupied with watching it that the next words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. "And the nightmares have calmed down a bit, too."

Jay's head turned towards her, eyebrows furrowed. He sat up a little straighter. "I'm sorry– did you say _nightmares_? What nightmares?"

Hailey paused, eyes widening just a little. She cleared her throat. "Yeah, must have... forgotten to mention those," she awkwardly chuckled and glanced over at him, not really wanting to make eye contact. "I know you've been abducted before, taken against your will. You've gone through trauma. You telling me you didn't get nightmares from that stuff?"

Much to his dismay, Jay couldn't disagree with her – he did know firsthand what trauma like that caused. He'd experienced a good few nightmares in his day, too, and even though his first thought had been shock that she hadn't told him, he realised he understood that. Nobody wants to open that part of themselves up. To weaken themselves like that. He couldn't blame her for that at all.

Slumping down a little in his seat, Jay nodded slowly. "At least they're getting better, then," he hummed. "If they get worse, though–"

"I know." Hailey cut him off by turning to look at him, eyebrows raised.

Jay raised his hands in mock surrender. "I know you know... just checking," he shrugged nonchalantly and looked at the screen once more.

In the distance, he could see the dealer, but it was clear Adam and Kim were still taking their time. Their feed was mostly quiet, only the thumping of the music and occasional mutters of their conversation to be heard amongst Hailey and Jay's own.

"Does Adam know about them?"

Hailey shook her head. "No. He hasn't been over yet," she explained. "Still giving me that space I asked for. But they'll be gone soon. No need for him to know they exist. Hadn't even planned on you knowing."

Jay smiled a little to himself. "You keep this much of your personal life to yourself around him, too? Or is _he _your personal life now?"

She glared at him. "He's part of it, yeah," she replied. "But I always keep my personal life to myself. Even around Adam. Even though I like him a lot. He's a good guy, you know? He's really one of the good ones."

"Yeah, he is," Jay agreed softly.

"But sometimes... sometimes it's like I _can't _tell him stuff because of that. He's understanding and he's kind and he's everything a girl wants, but I can still never tell him everything," she sighed. "He doesn't even know about our conversation the other night. And I kind of hate myself for keeping it from him... but I wanna keep things kind of casual for now. I don't wanna dive into the deep end with feeling guilty about every little thing. That'll never end well." Her eyes flicked over to Kim's camera and she caught sight of Adam on the screen.

Jay was just about to reply when he was cut off by Adam, starting to approach the dealer, and his conversation with Hailey had to be put in the back of his mind, knowing work needed to come first now.

"We're heading in now, guys."

* * *

Hailey sighed as she shut the door on her locker. It was only early in the morning but she was already tired, having stayed up late the night before in the van with Jay. The deal had gone over well, and they were planning on setting up a time to catch the guy later in the day, if possible.

Any of the irritation she'd felt previously about not being able to go undercover was long gone, now. Kim had done a great job the night before and she was expected to show up when they made the deal later, too.

Hailey turned to head back to her desk just as Kim wandered into the locker room, eyes settling on her straight away.

"Ah, just the person I wanted to see," Kim smiled at her and walked over. "I wanted to talk to you about last night."

"Last night?"

"Yeah, about me taking your place on the job with Adam."

Hailey waved a hand and shook her head. "It's no big deal, Kim, really. You did a great job last night."

Kim smiled. "Thank you, Hailey, really. But I just... I feel kind of awful having taken your place. I know you were looking forward to doing that deal with Adam, and now you didn't get to do it all because I had to step up and get you in with those guys the other day and–"

"Hey, no–" Hailey cut her off. "This is not your fault. I'm the one that started something. I'm the one that started the fight that day. And that's all in the past now. Last night's job is in the past. There was nothing that could be done then and nothing that can be done now. We're good, Kim."

Kim paused and studied Hailey's face for a few moments, as if she was expecting Hailey to be lying or something, before nodding. "We're good?"

"We're good."

With a smile, Kim turned on her heel to head out of the locker room but paused before she got too far. "I should have said this the other day but I just wasn't thinking it, and you need to know it," she started. "I'm over Adam. It's been years. I'm honestly over him. But it's just gonna take me a minute to get used to you two being together, you know?"

Hailey honestly hadn't been expecting it. Kim hadn't been egaer to talk about her and Adam the other day, so the fact that Kim was bringing it up now caught her by surprise, though she understood each and every one of her words.

"Yeah, you got it, Kim," she smiled. "We're not gonna rub anything in your face... we're taking it slow, he's giving me space after everything, and if I were in your position, I'd feel the exact same way. Like I said, we're good."

Kim gave her a grateful smile. "I'm glad you understand."

She was about to turn and head out the door again when Jay appeared in it. He glanced between the two of them, clearly sensing something between them, before jabbing his thumb over his shoulder.

"We've got something, you gotta take a look at it."

Kim headed out of the locker room first, Hailey trailing behind her with Jay at her side. As soon as Kim was out of earshot, Jay turned to her.

"You two good?"

Hailey nodded. "Yeah, we're good."


	4. Chapter 4 - Happy For You

**A/N**: Thank you for the lovely response on the last chapter and for waiting until tonight for the fourth chapter – I've had a busy couple of days and honestly didn't think I was going to even get this chapter written today, but here we are. I hope you enjoy this chapter and thank you for reading!

* * *

"So, you planning on letting me come over to yours for a drink again any time soon?" Adam raised an eyebrow as he looked down at Hailey. "No rush, of course... just curious."

Hailey looked up at him as she put something back in her locker. They'd been standing together in the locker room for a few minutes now, Adam having taken advantage of the privacy the room would give them by sneaking in a few kisses while they could.

"That depends," she started.

"On what?"

"On whether or not we take down this guy tonight."

Adam smirked. "Oh yeah? So – we take him down, I get to come over? Is that how that's gonna work?" He leant down a little closer. "I don't know about you, but I _was _talking to Kev earlier, and we're both pretty positive that we're taking him down tonight... so drinks are looking likely."

"You're confident tonight, aren't you?" Hailey chuckled. "But we'll see, won't we?"

Grinning, Adam leant down closer, fully planning on kissing her once more, when their privacy was invaded, the door behind him opening. Hailey's eyes moved from Adam to the door where Jay appeared, smiling ever so slightly. She took a step back away from Adam.

"Don't let me interrupt, guys," Jay held up his hands and wandered over to his own locker. "I'm just grabbing something before we head out."

Hailey could tell that Adam still wanted to kiss her, but she took another step back and shook her head. "We should probably head back, yeah? Don't wanna be the odd ones out."

She gave Adam a smile before patting his chest and wandering out of the locker room and heading back to the others. Adam followed her and, a moment or two later, Jay followed the both of them back.

He hadn't expected to see Hailey and Adam in there together – nor did he expect to see them seconds away from a kiss. He'd noticed that they were both absent from their desks, but he hadn't put two and two together until he'd actually seen them in the locker room together.

And he hadn't missed the fact that Hailey had pulled away from the kiss as soon as she noticed him – he wasn't sure what that way about, but he figured it was probably just because she didn't want to kiss Adam in front of her partner, and he understood that. Back when Erin was around, she wasn't overly fond of the PDA around the others, especially at work.

Voight was standing by the door of his office when they three of them returned and, upon seeing them, wandered further into the room and began briefing them on their job for the night – taking down a drug dealer who had been killing his customers. He'd escaped their capture before but tonight he wasn't going to get out so easily. They were going in as sneakily as possible, with guns in hand. No doors were safe, either. They were getting him no matter what, Voight assured them.

Hailey grabbed her jacket off the back of her chair and turned to Jay as Kim, Kevin and Antonio split off to drive to the house together.

"I'll ride with you," she said, the thought of riding with Adam not even entering her mind. Behind her, Adam raised his eyebrows in surprise just as Jay nodded in agreement.

Voight wandered towards them and clapped Adam on the shoulder. "Looks like it's the two of us, then. Come on."

Hailey gave Adam a smile before following them out with Jay at her side. A few minutes into their drive, Jay following the others to the house they were going to, he glanced over at her.

"So, you gonna explain what I saw in the locker room?"

Hailey furrowed her eyebrows. "What do you mean? You didn't see anything."

With a small chuckle, Jay shook his head. "What I _saw _was you and Adam about to kiss. You done with keeping him at arms length, now? With him giving you some space? It's been what, six days?"

"Excuse me?" Hailey looked over at him.

"Okay– listen, that didn't sound great, but I didn't mean it that way. I'm just asking, that's all. You said you wanted space, and the next second I find you two nearly kissing in the locker room only a few days after."

Hailey pursed her lips and turned to look out the window at the houses as they passed them. She understood what Jay meant, and she understood where he was coming from, too. He was just worried about her, just like she often worried about him, and she couldn't get mad at him for that, even if it was him being worried about her personal life rather than work.

She glanced back over at him. "If I don't slowly start putting things back together with him, if I don't start slowly letting him back into my life, things are just going to fizzle out," she explained. "And I don't think I want them to."

Even though, sometimes, it felt a little like she was doing this all for Adam's sake – especially going along with his flirting earlier in the locker room. Secretly, she hoped they didn't catch the guy so drinks wouldn't be necessary. And she hated herself for it.

Jay glanced at her and gave her a small smile. "You know I'm happy for you. I always will be. And even if Adam's a little full on sometimes, he's good," he spoke.

But as he did, Hailey couldn't help but notice that the worried tone in his voice wasn't there anymore, and instead of it being replaced with the happiness that usually comes with words about being happy for someone, it wasn't. She couldn't quite identify the emotion – but it wasn't happiness, even though he'd assured her he was.

"You don't sound happy, Jay."

His breath caught in his throat. "I am, I promise."

Hailey raised her eyebrows and kept looking at him.

"It's just what we're about to do, you know? Got me a little antsy, like it always does," he shrugged a shoulder as he turned onto the street they were parking on. "But I am happy for you. You know I am."

He tried his best to sound happy so that she'd believe him this time, not even sure as to why he didn't sound happy in the first place– because he _was _happy that Hailey was happy. The fact that it didn't come out in his tone confused him, though he didn't have the time to ponder it as they got out of the car quietly and followed Voight towards the house.

Jay, Hailey and Kevin split off from the rest of them and headed down a side lane beside the house, heading around the back incase he decided to escape. Hailey stood near the fence, gun raised up towards the door, and Jay stood a few steps away from her, gun doing the same.

They could hear only a little of what was going on inside. Someone knocking something over – likely the guy they were there to catch – and then feet, hitting the ground hard. The back door of the house swung open and the man hurried down the steps and towards the fence where Hailey was standing.

Not even caring about the gun in her hands, the man barrelled into her before she had a chance to fire or react, knocking her back into the fence and taking her off her feet. She slid to the ground with a gasp as the man hurried out the back gate and Jay and Kevin took over, hurrying after him.

Jay's feet were hitting the asphalt hard as he ran, and before he knew it he was on top of him, knocking the man to the ground. He struggled underneath him but realised instantly that he had no chance now – he'd been caught. Seconds later, Kevin joined him, breathing heavily, as Jay grabbed the cuffs.

Hauling him to his feet, Jay and Kevin pushed him back towards the house where Voight and the others were waiting and – _Hailey. _He'd seen the man run into her, seen her crash against the fence, but at the time his mind had only been on catching the guy. He winced at the thought of Hailey possibly being hurt for the second time in such a small amount of time and quickened his pace.

Voight met them in the backyard and grabbed the man instantly, leaving with Antonio and Kevin to take him back to the car. Like Voight had said – they'd got him.

Jay took a deep breath as he looked around for Hailey, spotting her sitting over by the stairs. He took a step towards her, instantly wanting to know if she was okay, when the back door opened and Adam exited. He walked over to her without a second thought. Jay stopped in his tracks.

He wasn't going to butt in now.

"Hey, you good? Antonio saw what happened, said that guy ran into you pretty hard and fast."

Hailey nodded at Adam. "Yeah, I'm fine. Knocked the wind out of me for a second there but I'm good. Happens to the best of us," she shrugged.

Adam sat down on the stairs and wrapped an arm around her. He pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Well, I'm sure a few drinks will make you feel better, right?" He smiled.

"Yeah, guess so." Hailey's smile was weak compared to his but it was dark enough outside that Adam didn't even notice it.

Antonio appeared from around the corner to tell them that they were good to go. Jay was pretty sure he was heading back to the station solo.

As the others wandered off ahead of him, he trailed off behind, watching as Hailey and Adam stood from the stairs and snuck in ahead of him. Adam's arm was no longer around Hailey but it was clear that there was still worry in him as he stayed close to her and Jay _had _overheard something mentioned about drinks.

As they reached the front of the property, Jay glanced over at Hailey once more to find her looking at him. Taking him a little by surprise, she gave him a smile and then nodded before mouthing 'I'm good' and following Adam over to Kevin's car so they could head back.

His lips turned up in a small smile.

Kim appeared beside Jay. "You good if I ride with you?"

He hummed. "Yeah, yeah– let's go."

By the time he and Kim got back to the station, Adam and Hailey were already gone, and as soon as Jay felt something like disappointment in his stomach, he pushed it down.


	5. Chapter 5 - Your Hailey

**A/N**: I'm _so so _happy with this chapter! It's a very Jay-centric one (though Chapter 6 will be Hailey based, so that's fair) and I really love how it turned out. We're finally getting some Halstead brother moments as well as some Jay/Adam time. Not much explicit Hailey/Jay but I hope you still love it! Thank you for reading!

* * *

"It's been way too long since we've done something like this. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think I've missed your company," Will smirked, taking a sip of his beer.

Jay shook his head, amused. "Yeah, wish I could say the same."

In need of some time with his brother, Jay had called Will earlier that day and asked if he was free to come to Molly's later that night and, luckily, Will had been free and agreed to come and join him. It had, like Will said, been a little while since they'd hit up Molly's for a few drinks. Work had been crazy for the both of them, and with Will's almost-marriage and police drama, it hadn't even been an option for the two of them until now.

"How've you and the team been liking working outside in all this colder weather, huh?" Will raised an eyebrow. "I'll have you know that the ED is toasty warm."

Rolling his eyes, Jay took a swig of his own beer. "We've been in the station a lot lately. Only a few cases where we've had to leave the _toasty warmth _of our desks," he chuckled. "And I've been doing this for years, Will. This Chicago chill is nothing by this point."

Will laughed at his words.

"_Anyway,_" Jay continued, sitting his beer down on the table in front of him. "Since we're catching up, it's only right I ask you about Nat. What's going on there? You haven't mentioned her once tonight."

The flash of pain that crossed Will's face was impossible to miss.

"Yeah, that's... done," he shrugged a shoulder and acted as if he wasn't particularly bothered by it, though Jay saw through that facade. "After the drama with that gun and everything... she gave the ring back. So if you want it to propose to someone, I guess it's yours now."

Jay frowned and gave Will a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry, man."

Will shook his head. "Don't be. It's my fault. I'm the one that kept putting her through all this shit," he sighed. "I guess I just wish that she could understand a little better that _I'm _the one that went through it all, too. I'm the one that saw it all first hand. Too late now, though."

He picked up his beer and took a long swig. He didn't want to get himself down tonight. Tonight was a good night – a night for him and Jay to spend time together and catch up. That's what it was.

"Enough about my troubles, though– I'm not engaged anymore, the ring's free. You got anyone you wanna propose to with it?" Will raised an eyebrow as he looked over at his brother, not expecting much in terms of an answer.

"Yeah, no– you keep it."

Will chuckled. "What's with the two of us and getting _close _to marriage but never getting there in the end? What's up with that?"

"It's some sort of Halstead curse," Jay joked. "Seriously, though. There's nothing going on even _remotely _romantic in my life right now, nor will there be for a while, I think. It's always ended badly for me. Might just have to give up on it entirely."

"And what about the Intelligence Unit, then? You were with Erin before, Kim was with Adam. Anyone else hooking up? You've gotta give me _something _to work with here, Jay."

Jay rolled his eyes. "Well Adam's with Hailey, now. And Kim knows."

Will seemed surprised by that – he hadn't expected to hear that Jay's _partner _was one of the people hooking up. Especially with Adam, of all people. And he knew Adam, he knew that he was a good guy, a _solid _guy, but he'd met Hailey, too, and Adam certainly didn't seem like her type. To him, at least. But he'd just ruined his engagement with Nat, so really, what did he know?

"Wait – Adam and _Hailey? _Your Hailey?"

"She's not _my _Hailey, Will," Jay scoffed. "And yeah, they're together. Kim found out the day the two of them got taken last week. She's been fine around them so far, so at least it's not awkward. I'm happy for her."

Will paused before replying. "You don't _sound _happy, Jay."

Jay raised his eyebrows and stopped still, staring at Will across the table. "You know, Hailey said the exact same thing a few nights ago."

It was pretty clear to Will what was going on here – Jay was jealous of Hailey's relationship with Adam. Maybe it was just because he didn't have anyone, or maybe it was because he cared too much about Hailey, or maybe it was something else... something more than that.

"Hear me out, Jay," he started. "But maybe you _aren't _as happy for her as you think you are... or maybe you're just saying you're happy for her because you're meant to be. You know what I mean?"

"Uhh, no–"

Before Jay could finish his sentence _or _Will could clarify what he meant, Connor Rhodes appeared at the table and gave them both a smile.

"Hey guys, I don't mean to interrupt, but is it all right if I just steal Will away for a second? Need to discuss something about a patient," he explained.

Jay nodded. "Yeah, yeah– of course," he stood up from his chair. "I might actually head home, get an early night. Big day tomorrow– but I'll call you tomorrow, yeah?"

It was clear that Will hadn't wanted the conversation to end there and that he had more to say but all he could do was agree with his brother and watch as he headed out of Molly's before talking to Connor.

* * *

"You all good, Kev?" Hailey asked, tugging her jacket closer to her as she got out of the car and crossed to where Kevin was standing on the sidewalk.

For Hailey's first undercover job after the beating, she'd chosen something small – infiltrating a party with Kevin to get one of the associates of the dealer they'd taken down a few nights ago. Her face was healing better now and in the dim lighting of the house, and with some make-up, the worst of it was well hidden.

"Yeah, let's do this," Kevin hummed, wrapping an arm around Hailey as they wandered up the stairs towards the house. Music was already blaring and it shook the stairs a little as they made their way towards the door.

Jay, from his spot in the van, shifted in his seat as he watched through the camera hidden in Kevin's jacket. This was just a simple undercover job, nothing too serious, but his heart was still beating fast in his chest as he watched them enter the party. He knew Hailey was going to be just fine. He'd seen her go undercover before. And Kevin was there if anything went wrong.

He'd been thinking about Will's words at Molly's the entire day and still hadn't really managed to decipher the meaning of them. Just _saying _he was happy for her? Not as happy for her as he thinks he is? It didn't make sense to him. He _was _happy for her. Hell, he was sitting in a van with the man that was making her happy right now.

Adam was watching as the two of them mingled at the party though he wasn't taking much of it in– instead, he was thinking about something he and Hailey had spoken about the other night, something that had been bugging him ever since they'd spoken. He'd been holding off about bringing it up with Jay ever since but it seemed his self control wasn't entirely there this time, and before he even knew it, he was blurting it out.

"Listen, man – I don't wanna overstep here, but the other night when I was with Hailey at her place, having drinks, I got thinking about something," he began, turning to look at Jay. "You're her partner. You know her better than anyone here, even me. And I think you should check in on her more. Especially after what happened."

While Jay had, initially, been intrigued about what Adam was going to say, the second he continued that intrigue disappeared. "I'm sorry, what?"

"She hasn't really spoken to me about what happened in that cabin with those men, even though I've told her she can. And I get that – I get that she wants to take it slow, and I'm cool with that. I'm just saying... you're her partner, you know? She's open with you. You need to be looking out for her. Especially when I can't be. I don't want her bottling all of this up inside just because she won't talk about it. As her partner, it's kind of your job to make sure she's not doing that."

Lost for words, Jay only stared at Adam for a few moments as he ran over his words in his head. It's _his _job to make sure she's not bottling things up? Sure. But he knows she's not. It's _his _job to be looking out for her– and he should be doing more of that? Adam was so... _full of it._

He didn't think about his words before he said them.

"Mind your own business, man," he shook his head. "Hailey can handle herself just fine. She was doing it before you came along and she'll do it after. And what we talk or don't talk about while you're not around has nothing to do with you, so how about, instead of lecturing me about how I should be acting around _my _partner, you stop talking and do your job."


	6. Chapter 6 - Step Back

**A/N**: Thank you for the response on the last chapter! I'm glad you seemed to enjoy it. As I said before, this chapter is more Hailey-centric and somehow it ended up _super _long, the longest so far, so I hope you enjoy it. Also, how great were the new Med/Fire/PD episodes today? There's a line in here that was inspired by the Upstead scene at the end of PD (which I completely adored) – can you recognise which one it is?

* * *

"You know, I wasn't sure you were even gonna let me in when I showed up at your door earlier," Adam hummed, tipping his head back as he drained the first bottle of beer in his hand. "I was expecting a slammed door in the face. I was pleasantly surprised, though."

Adam had been over at Hailey's place for about an hour and a half, after having shown up a few hours after they'd both clocked off from work. It had been only a day since Jay's small outburst to Adam in the van. Adam hadn't said anything afterwards, nor had he said anything since – but the alcohol was loosening up his tongue, it seemed.

Beside him, Hailey furrowed her eyebrows and turned to look at him. "A slammed door in the face? What are you talking about, Adam?"

He cringed internally. So Jay _hadn't _told her about it.

Adam turned to face her a little more before speaking. "Yesterday, when you and Kev were undercover and Jay and I were in the van, Jay and I had a bit of a... _talk. _Or, really, I talked and he snapped."

His words had taken her off guard completely. He and Jay had spoken and disagreed in the van, all while Kevin and Hailey were working undercover? She pulled her knees closer to her chest as she looked over at Adam. His eyebrows were furrowed and lips were twisted ever so slightly. Hailey wasn't excited to hear him continue.

"What were you talking about?"

Adam cleared his throat. "You, actually."

Thinking it wasn't possible to be taken off guard anymore, Adam had just gone and done it. They'd been talking about _her _and Jay had snapped? The look on Hailey's face conveyed everything Adam needed to know – to continue explaining.

"I was saying that I was worried about you. That, after everything, I don't want you bottling everything up and letting it get to you. And that, since Jay is your partner, he needs to be looking out for you when I can't, he needs to have your back and that he needs to check in on you more often than he already does," he explained.

Hailey took a breath and nodded slowly, mulling over everything in her head before she replied. "I can handle myself, Adam. You know I can handle myself. And Jay has my back. He always does."

Chuckling a little, Adam nodded. "Yeah, Jay said that exact same thing, actually. Told me that I should mind my own business, that what you and him talk about when I'm not there has nothing to do with me."

Her lips quirked up a little upon hearing what Jay had said and she ducked her head and stared down at the couch for a moment. "So, what? You thought Jay would have told me about that and that I'd just decide that I don't want to see you?"

"Yeah, actually," he shrugged.

Hailey shook her head. "You don't need to worry about me so much, Adam. I know you like worrying, but you don't need to worry about me. Like I said – like _Jay _said – I can handle myself. I don't want to have to worry about _you _watching me over your shoulder every five seconds. I'm never going to be able to work like that – to _live _like that. And I appreciate the fact that you care, and I don't want to be taking sides here, but Jay's right. I'm not bottling things up. He's my partner. We talk about things together, things that I shouldn't feel obligated to pass on to you just because we're doing... _this._ Jay's still going to be my partner."

Adam pursed his lips and tapped his fingers on the outside of his empty beer bottle. He wasn't sure what he'd expected, really. But he hadn't really expected this. He'd more expected Hailey to take his side, if any. Yet, he knew Hailey. And this answer was so, inexplicably Hailey that he was surprised he didn't see it coming in the first place. He sighed and nodded.

"I won't hover, then. I'll step back."

"Voight said the other day that we need to leave our personal troubles out of it when we're working. And that means, when I'm working with Jay, or when I'm telling him things I'm not telling you, or when I'm in danger because it's my _job, _you need to accept that, Adam," she replied. "I hope you know that I do the same for you. I accept it for you. Now it's your turn to accept it for me."

* * *

Jay was sat at his desk, staring at a file on his computer screen, when Hailey appeared beside him. She jerked her head over towards the small break room off the bullpen.

"Can we talk?"

Furrowing his eyebrows, Jay obliged and stood up from his desk, following her into the room. She closed the door behind them before starting to make herself a coffee.

"What do you need to talk about?" Jay questioned.

"I was talking to Adam last night," she began, grabbing a mug from the cupboard. "And he told me about what happened in the van that night I was undercover with Kevin. About your conversation, about how you snapped at him."

Jay internally cringed and dropped his eyes away from Hailey and down to his feet. She wasn't making eye contact yet anyway, so he didn't feel too weird about breaking it. What he _did _feel weird about was being confronted by Hailey about it. He hadn't expected it. He'd expected Adam to just move on and forget about his small outburst – _not _to turn to Hailey and discuss it with her. To turn to Hailey and discuss Jay jumping to her defense.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," she hummed, clicking on the kettle to boil the water. She glanced up at Jay. "We had a talk about it, and I just want you to know I'm not mad at you for snapping at him. You were right to. Maybe not the part where you were crabby about it, but in your words, you were right."

Jay's eyebrows raised and he carefully moved his eyes up from his shoes to meet Hailey again. This time, she was looking at him, and it was like he could see everything she was about to say to him right when she looked at him. He just knew. One side of his lips twitched up into a small smile.

"I _can _handle myself, and what we talk about _is _our business. But Jay," she turned properly to look at him. "You've known Adam for a while. Long before you knew me, long before we started working together. I don't want to come between your friendship. So if me being with Adam is causing tension between the two of you, if I start coming between that friendship in any way, I'm going to step back. Because I can't have that on my conscience. I just can't."

"You don't have to do that–"

"No, I do," Hailey shook her head. "I do, Jay. And if it comes to it, I will."

Jay opened his mouth to say more but was interrupted by a knock on the door. It cracked open a little and Antonio stood in the gap.

"We've got a lead. Voight wants one of you to check it out with me."

Hailey, forgetting about her coffee, nodded instantly. "Yeah, I'll just grab my jacket and meet you downstairs."

She was out of the room before Jay could so much as utter a goodbye.

* * *

Hailey scrunched up her nose and chucked the remote for the TV down on the coffee table. There was nothing good on TV and she was just about to consider an early night when she heard the doorbell go. Frowning a little, she stood from the couch and wandered to the door, fully expecting Adam to be on the other side of it.

Instead, when she peered through the peep hole, she saw Kim.

Pulling the door open, Hailey furrowed her eyebrows. "Kim," she greeted. "I didn't expect to see you here tonight. What's up?"

Kim held up a six pack of beer. "Girls night?"

She smiled instantly and opened the door wider. So much for that early night. A girls night was... exactly what she needed, especially with all of the drama going on with Adam and Jay lately. She'd meant what she said to Jay earlier, too. That she'd step back if it got too much. And the more she thought about it, the more positive she became that it _would _get to that point between them.

Half an hour later, Hailey and Kim sat slouched down on the couch, a bottle of beer for the both of them and an empty box of Pizza laying on the coffee table in front of them. They'd been making small talk throughout their entire dinner and they'd ended up finding themselves talking about the abduction – Hailey was a little relieved, but also saddened, to hear that Kim had been woken up by nightmares a few times, too, but it was clear between the both of them that they were glad that they had each other to lean on in times like this.

Wanting to change the subject, though, and not planning to talk about a day she'd rather forget for the rest of the night, Kim turned to Hailey. "I hope you don't think I'm prying here, because I'm definitely _not, _but this is usually what girls talk about when they have girls nights, and _please, _don't think it's weird because I want to talk to you about my ex, okay?" She paused for effect. "But you and Adam– how do you feel about him? Is it serious?"

Hailey let out a soft sigh and turned to look over at the TV. It was muted but there was still some sort of house renovation program on. She focused her eyes on that while she tried to think through an answer, and the fact that one didn't come to mind immediately _did _set off an alarm bell somewhere in the back of her mind.

"Is it serious? I don't... I don't know," she shrugged a shoulder. "But Adam's a good guy. You know that. You know he always means well. I just... didn't expect this to be a _thing _for real, you know? I didn't want it to be a thing... until it was."

Beside her, Kim frowned a little. "Are you happy that it is?"

Hailey nodded instantly. "Yeah, yeah– I'm happy. I'm pretty sure Adam's happy... we're happy."

There was something in Hailey's tone that made Kim not want to believe her completely, though she couldn't put a finger on what it was, exactly. She cleared her throat and decided to bring up something she couldn't help but notice earlier that day in the bullpen. Something she was pretty sure _everyone _had noticed, other than the ones involved.

"If you and Adam are happy, then," she continued. "Then tell me – why did it seem like there was so much tension between Adam and Jay today? You could just feel it in the room. I'm surprised Voight didn't say something."

Hailey glanced over at Kim, confused. "Tension? What tension?"

With a chuckle, Kim explained. "They were just acting off around one another. And it seemed to me like you were kind of stuck in the middle of it. Did something happen between you three? Did Adam or Jay do something?"

At Kim's words, it's like the puzzle pieces clicked into place for Hailey – thinking back on it, there _had _been some obvious tension between the two of them, even though Hailey had tried her best to talk to the both of them in an attempt to try and get rid of the potential for any. But her mind had been too occupied with the new case that she'd not even had a second to _think _about Adam and Jay and their tension until Kim mentioned it.

Sighing, Hailey gave Kim a quick run-through of the events that had led to the tension – their conversation in the van, Hailey and Adam's conversation afterwards and, most recently, her conversation with Jay.

The realisation dawned on Kim pretty quickly.

She gave Hailey a knowing smile. "Are you _always _this oblivious, or is it just something new you're trying out with this case?" She teased.

Hailey gave her a look. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Jay's jealous, Hailey. He's jealous."

Eyebrows knotted together, Hailey shook her head. "That's– that's bullshit and you know it, Kim. He's just overprotective. He's just being an overprotective partner like he usually is. He just cares a lot. He does it for everyone."

Kim shook her head. "I've known Jay for _years, _Hails. I know the signs of when he's jealous and I know when he's just being a protective colleague. This is the former, not the latter. You just have to look a little deeper, dig under the surface a bit. Then you'll find it, Hailey."

It was taking everything in Hailey _not _to roll her eyes. Instead, she focused her eyes back on the TV in front of her. Kim chuckled beside her.

"Fine, don't believe me. But I'll be waiting for that _I told you so._"


End file.
